The Effects of Climate Change on

the Risk of Floods in Spain

ecologistas
en accin

ecologistas
en accin
Julia Martnez Fernndez
rea de Agua de Ecologistas en Accin
Ecologistas en Accin
Marqus de Legans 12 - 28004 Madrid
Telefono: 915 31 27 39
www.ecologistasenaccion.org/agua
Ecologistas en Accin is grateful to have this report
reproduced as long as the source is always cited
To read and download this report, visit
www.ecologistasenaccion.org/article30987.html
November 2015

Ecologistas en Accin

Introduction

change? Are the necessary measures to adapt to

the new situation being implemented?

loods in general are events associated with

more intense rainfall than average that produce the inundation of areas generally free
of surface water, such as urban and industrial areas
and agricultural fields. The risk of flooding emerges from the combination of two factors: on the
one hand, the occurrence of more intense rainfall
(danger) and, on the other, the existence of goods
and people that may potentially become affected
by being in flood areas, temporary riverbeds and
other hazardous areas (vulnerability). Clearly, facing the same risk of flooding (the same intense
rainfall), the final risk will be very different depending on the degree of vulnerability, that is, the population and goods exposed, which depends on
the type of use of that space and the existing territorial ordination model.
Floods are the most common type of natural disaster in Europe. During the 1998-2002 period,
according to the European Environmental Agency, floods represented 43% of all the catastrophes
taking place in Europe. Floods have an important
economic and social impact and, most importantly, involve the loss of human lives.
Floods and droughts represent the most important natural hazards in Spain, given their socioeconomic relevance and their frequency, beyond
other dangers such as strong winds, hail storms,
avalanches or seismic events. The three main areas
of flooding risk in Spain are the Basque Country,
the Canary Islands and above all, the Mediterranean coast, which has 75% of the maximum daily
rainfall events in Spain.
The most dangerous flood events are sudden rises
in minor river beds, due to the loss in human lives
they bring about. These sudden rises, caused by
torrential rainfalls, are particular frequent on the
Mediterranean Coast and the Canary Islands.
Floods represent extreme events linked to unusually intense rainfalls, extreme events that, according to the available forecasts, will be significantly
altered by climate change. What are the trends of
change we expect to see in Spain due to climate

In the following sections we are going to synthetically analyse what the climate change models and
scenarios say about the case of Spain with regard
to these extreme events. We are going to review
the recent trends in flooding patterns, the response by governments and public administrations,
and the proposals by Ecologists in Action to adopt
more ambitious public policies to adapt to climate
change and its related flooding risks.

The expected impact

of climate change on
floods in Spain

he IPCC reports indicate an increase in the

intensity and frequency of extreme events
and, specifically, floods. Different authors
point to a foreseeable increase in extreme events
across Europe stemming from the global change.
It is estimated that the contribution of climate
change to the economic cost produced by natural
disasters will substantially increase in the future,
due the greater intensity and frequency of extreme events in many regions.
In the case of floods, it is complicated to make forecasts for several reasons. On the one hand, they
are events that take place in short periods of time
with low frequency, about which climate models
generate uncertain results. On the other hand,
floods are influenced by non-climatic factors such
as demographic factors, changes in use, and transformation of the fluvial plains. Consequently, there is not a strong consensus about whether the
occurrence and magnitude of these flood events
have increased due to climate change, a question
that is still subject to great uncertainty.
Nevertheless, the fifth IPCC report indicates not
only a decrease in rainfall, but also an increase in
its irregularity in the coming decades in the intermediate latitudes, where Spain is located. Despi-

The Effects of Climate Change on the Risk of Floods in Spain

te the fact that all these quantitative projections

regarding the frequency and intensity of flood
events are questionable, it is estimated that the
number of days with a large amount of rainfall
could increase, given that the global change may
intensify the water cycle, increasing the frequency
of floods in many areas in Europe. These floods, especially the sudden unleashing of intense rainfalls
(flash-floods), will probably be more frequent all
over Europe, especially in the South of the continent, where these flash-floods could increase by
70% by the end of the century.

that could be affected during a flood episode.

In the case of the Iberian Peninsula, there is no

consensus about the expected changes in extreme rainfall that can be expected for the distant
time scenario of 2070-2100. However, maximum
rainfall in 24h, which can cause rising rivers and
floods, could increase by 5% on the entire Peninsula by 2050.

Recent flood trends in

Spain

Moreover, the possible synergy between different

effects produced by climate change could exacerbate the risk of floods. This is the case of forest
fires. The models not only predict an increase in
temperatures in the summer, but also a reduction
in spring rain. All this points to more severe atmospheric conditions, which would translate into
a greater number of fires, more intense fires, and a
larger area burned. For example, in the Llobregat
basin (Catalonia), an increase in forest fire frequency is expected, which would destroy the vegetation and alter the soil properties, producing an
increase in run-off of 30%, which could increase
flood events during intense rainfall.
In addition, an increase in the risk of coastal flooding is expected. For example, the available research indicates that the risk of flooding on the
coast of Bilbao in the 2050-2100 period could triple the current expected sea level extremes.
Finally, the scenarios of changes in the use of soil
also indicate that, in the future, the tendency
toward an increase in soil sealing will continue, an
increase stemming from the accelerated urbanization process. The increase in housing areas, in the
absence of a careful territorial ordination, will continue to present a growing occupation of flood zones, increasing the number of goods and people

Ecologistas en Accin

To sum up, the risk of floods will continue to increase in the future due to a dual effect of climate change: on the one hand, climate change will
foreseeably increase the frequency of intense
rain and flash-flood events (increase in the risk of
flood); on the other hand, the change in the use of
soil, the other component of the global change,
will increase the exposure of goods and people to
floods (increase in vulnerability).

he observation of rainfall in the Mediterranean region does not allow us to reliably

ascertain whether the number of days with
intense rain has increased, due the reduced number of days when these types of rainfall take place.
However, the impact and damage produced by
floods has increased significantly. The risk of flooding is greater at the beginning of the 21st century than it was twenty years ago. This increase in
the flood risk is not as related to the increase in
torrential rainfall events, about which there is no
clear evidence, as it is to the increase in vulnerability, or exposure to risk, even though the climate
change models also predict an increase of the former in the future.
Why has the vulnerability to floods increased in recent decades? Damage due to floods is increasing,
mainly due to poor land management, through
three fundamental mechanisms:
i) The increase in water resistant surfaces due
to urban developments, so that water flow increases. As a result, with the same rainfall, the
frequency and severity of the flood events increases.
ii) Secondly, the floodable areas are increasingly
occupied by buildings and other infrastructures.
Facing similar floods, the exposure to risk (vulnerability) is greater, and therefore the damage
to goods and people also becomes greater.

iii) Finally, infrastructures like roads and artificial

slopes interrupt and disorganize natural drain
networks, and so the water is forced to alter its
flow, thus affecting previously flood-free spaces.
As a result, in the whole of the Spanish territory,
and especially in the Basque Country, Canary Islands and the Mediterranean coast, the risk of
floods is greater at the beginning of the 21th century than it was twenty years ago.
In recent decades numerous flooding events
have taken place, such as those affecting the Mediterranean coast (1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989,
2000 2005 and 2007), the Basque Country (1983)
and the Southern and Central Peninsula (1995
and 1996). Some especially catastrophic floods in
terms of the loss of human lives took place in the
Ars Canyon in Biescas (Huesca), due to a deluge
that caused 86 deaths in 1996, and the floods in
Alicante and Cerro de Reyes (Badajoz) in 1997,
causing 37 deaths. In the same way, other important flooding events should be mentioned, such
as those in Tenerife in 2002, Catalonia in 2005, and
the Mediterranean coast and Andalusia in 2007.
The catastrophic floods in Biescas and Badajoz
perfectly illustrate why the damages caused by
floods are increasing. In the case of Biescas, the tragedy occurred because the public administration
allowed a campsite to be built in the debris cone
of the Ars Canyon in the Pyrenees. This misguided
licence was based on the false security offered by
the channelling of the canyon and the numerous
contention dams build in its basin. In fact, these
more than 30 contention dams made the damage
significantly worst because the flash-flood swept
them away, along with the materials held in them.
In the case of the flood in Cerro de Reyes in Badajoz, the agrarian transformations disorganized the
draining networks, hillocks, and channelling of the
Rivillas river, reducing the volume of drainage space for the river; most importantly, the flood areas
were occupied by homes, factories and infrastructures. In addition, some obstacles to the water
flows were created, such as bridges that were not
adapted to the flash-flood water level.
Faced with these risks derived from climate change, which are going to worsen in the future due to
climate change and the changes in land use, are

the necessary measures being adopted in Spain?

The Administrations
response

he Spanish administration has not implemented true strategies to adapt to the increase in the risk of floods. Applying these
strategies requires accepting that floods are a natural risk that cannot be eliminated (they will continue to take place with greater frequency and intensity due to climate change). Therefore, we need
to modify our life styles and production styles in
order to adapt to the occurrence of these extreme
events.
Despite what we might think, the conception
of floods as a natural phenomenon to which we
must adapt, rather than as an anomaly to be overcome, is not recent. It was held by many traditional societies and production systems. Riverside
populations have historically adapted to the risk
of floods by reducing vulnerability, that is, exposure to them. In fact, the historical centres of villages
are the areas that experience the least flooding
because most of the inhabited spaces tended to
be located in higher areas or outside the rivers
flooding plain, mouths of streams, and canyons
and other high risk areas.
However, once more, as in the case of droughts
in the 20th century, the public administration implemented a new strategy, leaving behind this
historic adaptation strategy and moving toward a
new conception that it is possible to avoid floods
through hydraulic works such as dams, channellings, hillocks, contention dikes and dredging.
A clear example is the Plan for the Prevention of
Flash-Floods in the Segura Basin (1977), focused
on the construction of channels and lamination
dams. We can also mention urban channellings
and diversions, as in the Plan in the South of Valencia.
These hydraulic works have distorted the publics
perception of risk and given rise to a false sense of
security that has favoured the occupation of floo-

The Effects of Climate Change on the Risk of Floods in Spain

dable areas, increasing the exposure to risk and

the vulnerability of the population and their possessions. Moreover, waterway channelling produces complex and negative flood consequences
downstream because it allows more energy and
speed in the flash-flood waters, increasing their
erosion power and destruction capacity. As a result, these hydraulic works not only have not managed to stop floods, but paradoxically, in many
cases they have increased their risk, which shows
the failure of this strategy.
To the occupation of floodable areas, we can add
other effects of bad land ordination: on the one
hand, more water resistant soil increases surface
runoff and damage due to floods, especially in urban spaces, and on the other hand, the construction of new infrastructures (roads, slopes) cut into
and disorganise the draining networks, worsening
the damage caused by intense rainfall.
In addition to being counterproductive because
of generating a false sense of security that ends
up increasing risk, hydraulic works are not very
useful against floods. The available studies show
a continuous increase in economic damage due
to floods, despite the increase in structural measures (dams, dikes, breakwaters). The water reservoirs have a very limited capacity to layer the great
floods due to the incompatibility of this layering
function and other uses of these infrastructures,
such as hydroelectricity, water supply or agriculture. Spain, in spite of having the highest number
of dams per person in the world and the largest
amount of infrastructures, experiences increasing
damage due to floods.
The construction of contention dikes or hillocks
placed too close to the riverbed is equally inefficient, and if they break during a flash-flood there
can be a real threat to peoples lives. Finally, dredging does not solve any problems because sediments settle and take the place of the materials
removed in a very short time. On the other hand,
these hard flood interventions have a serious environmental impact because they break the morphodynamic balance of the river, eliminating sediments, degrading the natural vegetation, and
destroying habitats.

Ecologistas en Accin

Despite everything we have mentioned, after a

catastrophic flood, the public administration, instead of communicating rigorous and contrasted
information about the cause of the floods to the
population, and about the measures that have to
guide risk management, tends to promise (as occurred with the flood in the Ebro river in February
and March 2015) more investments in dredging
and other hydraulic works.
The European Flood Directive, passed in 2007, establishes that floods cannot be avoided, but their
effects can be minimised. Confronting the inefficiency of the classic hydraulic works, this directive advocates for the territorial ordination of flood
areas, and for the re-naturalization of the flood
plains for the layering of flash-floods. Complying
with this directive, risk management plans have
been designed in each hydrographic zone, and
they must be definitely approved in December
2015. These plans include some efficient measures, but in general we still lack clear support for
measures involving territorial organization. At the
same time, we detect incoherencies in the measures included in the hydrological plans, and, on
many occasions, hard interventions based on hydraulic works with great environmental impact
and dubious efficacy continue.

Ecologists in Action
proposals for better
adaptation to and
preparation for floods

aced with the misguided policies applied up

to now, adapting to and preparing for floods
in the Climate Change perspectives requires
the application of several principles:
- Adaptive management: it is not possible to
avoid floods, but we can adapt to them, in order
to prevent and minimise their adverse effects.
- Principle of precaution: It is necessary: i) to
assume sensible scenarios of Climate Change
(in contrast to the temptation of optimistic sce-

narios) and ii) incorporate uncertainty into planning and decision-making, so that the greater
the uncertainty is, as in the case of future episodes of intense rainfall, the further the risk thresholds must be pushed in decision making. This
means that floodable ground must be defined
using criteria that emphasize uncertainty as well
as safety (lower risk of exposure to floods).
Adequate flood risk management cannot be based on the failed strategy of hydraulic works that
produce a false sense of safety; instead, it must
include the general application of the precaution
principle, especially given the uncertainty about
the frequency of future events and to recover the
adaptation to these natural phenomena through
good territorial organization. Furthermore, the
risk is particularly high for sudden flash-floods
that take place in small river basins with a large flow concentrated in a short period of time
(hours), leaving no margin for a response. This
makes it even more necessary to have a strategy
to avoid risk though territorial ordination, leaving
all areas susceptible to receiving fast-floods free of
constructions and installations, the most rational,
sensible and sustainable risk reduction measure in
the medium and long term.
At the same time, river overflows are essential for
the geomorphological dynamics and ecological
health of rivers, given that they provide naturally
important services to society, such as maintaining
the natural fertilization of agricultural lands, contributing to biodiversity, eliminating invasive species, bringing sand to beaches and sediments and
nutrients to river deltas, and creating fertilization
sources for coastal fishing areas. Therefore, we do
not need to avoid floods, but rather minimise their
negative effects by giving space back to the rivers.
Alongside the territorial organization, the management of the river area constitutes another great
measure for efficient and sustainable management of the flood risk. The river area, formed by
the river itself and adjacent floodable spaces of
enough width, would act as an expansion zone for
the overflows through processes of damming and
infiltration, dissipating the energy of flash-floods
and, therefore, their erosion capacity. There is no
better insurance for the riverside population than
substituting a phenomenon, the flash-flood, with

another one with less negative effects, overflow,

in areas where it creates less damage and gives
maximum benefits. Moreover, the river area makes
it possible to conserve and recover the hydrogeomorphic dynamic, obtaining a continuous riverside corridor that guarantees ecological diversity,
complies with a good ecological state, favours the
filtering of contaminants through the restoration
of groves as green filters, and improves and consolidates the riverbed landscape.
Adequately managing the river area requires,
among other interventions:
i) Recovering streams and riverside woods that
contribute to dissipating the energy of the floods.
ii) Removing and setting back dikes and hillocks
to expand the flood smoothly and later allow
emptying when the river level comes down,
reducing the destructive capacity of the flashflood waters downstream.
iii) Adapting to using floods. This implies i) revising the municipal urban organization plans
and other instruments of territorial organization, impeding transformation to uses incompatible with floods; ii) In the flood plains, favour
the persistence of natural and agricultural uses
compatible with floods. The traditional agricultural uses of these plains favour the laminating
function, and so they must be supported by
measures such as eco-conditioned subsidies,
effective agricultural insurance, proximity
marks and quality or other formulas.
iv) Apply compensations and insurance systems
to farmers who see their harvests affected.
Finally, an integral strategy in dealing with these
floods must include education in uncertainty and
in the culture of risk. It is fundamental to count on
the riverside inhabitants developing educational
programs, social communication and recruitment
to allow the modification of the public perception
of rivers and the role of floods, with the certainty
that only a well-informed society will support the
adequate management of river areas.
With the adoption of these measures, we could
substantially reduce the effects of floods and
flash-floods, which, as a result of Climate Change,
are occurring and will occur with greater frequency in our country.

The Effects of Climate Change on the Risk of Floods in Spain

ecologistas
en accin
Andaluca: 954 90 39 84
andalucia@ecologistasenaccion.org
Aragn: 629 13 96 09 - 629 13 96 80
aragon@ecologistasenaccion.org
Asturies: 985 36 52 24
asturias@ecologistasenaccion.org
Canarias: 928 36 22 33 - 922 31 54 75
canarias@ecologistasenaccion.org
Cantabria: 608 95 25 14
cantabria@ecologistasenaccion.org
Castilla y Len: 983 21 09 70
castillayleon@ecologistasenaccion.org
Castilla-La Mancha: 608 82 31 10
castillalamancha@ecologistasenaccion.org
Catalunya: 648 76 11 99
catalunya@ecologistesenaccio.org
Ceuta: 956 50 32 64
ceuta@ecologistasenaccion.org
Comunidad de Madrid: 915 31 23 89
madrid@ecologistasenaccion.org
Euskal Herria: 944 79 01 19
euskalherria@ekologistakmartxan.org
Extremadura: 927 57 75 41 - 622 12 86 91
extremadura@ecologistasenaccion.org
La Rioja: 941 24 51 14 - 616 38 71 56
larioja@ecologistasenaccion.org
Melilla: 951 40 08 73
melilla@ecologistasenaccion.org
Navarra: 626 67 91 91
navarra@ecologistasenaccion.org
Pas Valenci: 965 25 52 70
paisvalencia@ecologistesenaccio.org
Regin Murciana: 968 28 15 32 - 629 85 06 58
murcia@ecologistasenaccion.org

Ecologistas en Accin